Arguably one of the most famous marriages in the country, the relationship between American Democratic political royalty, Maria Shriver, and former heavyweight actor and Republican Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, seemed like an unlikely match to even the most open-minded. Despite public disbelief (and allegations of sexual misconduct), Schwarzenegger and Shriver were married for twenty-five years and had four children together.

However, it was recently announced that Schwarzenegger is the father of a ten-year-old out-of-wedlock child with one of the former staff members of his household. When the news went public, Shriver immediately separated from Schwarzenegger.

Music heals the soul. In honor of Shriver and all those who have had to go through a marital break-up, we compiled this list of Ten Songs About Divorce and Separation.

10. “Papers”-[lastfm link_type=”artist_info”]Usher[/lastfm]

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A feeling we are sure Shriver knows well, in Usher’s song “Papers,” he loves his wife and reminisces about all the things he did for her. However, she is driving him crazy and Usher is ready to serve her with some papers:

I done damn near lost my mama, I done been through so much drama/I done turned into the man that I never thought I’d be/I’m ready to sign them papers, papers, papers.

There is no doubt that Maria Shriver will take care of her children with the utmost love, no matter what happened, but their exposure to a very public separation will still be difficult. Jason Mraz sings a child’s perspective of divorce in “Love For A Child.”

It’s kinda nice to work the floor since the divorce/I’ve been enjoying both my Christmases and my birthday cakes/And taking drugs and making love at far too young an age/And they never check to see my grades/What a fool I’d be to start complaining now

8. “When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You”-[lastfm link_type=”artist_info”]Marvin Gaye[/lastfm]

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Everyone know Marvin Gaye’s love songs, but he also has an extremely emotional song about the state of the world, his relationship, and divorce, which starts off with a little sing-talk sermon about how promising things at the altar just leads to a pack full of lies later on:

You know, when you say your marriage vows, they’re supposed to be for real. I mean if you think back about what you really said, you know, about, honor and loving and obeying till death do us part and all. But it shouldn’t be that way, it shouldn’t be lies because it turns out to be lies.

7. “Goodbye”-[lastfm link_type=”artist_info”]Avril Lavigne[/lastfm]

Photo by Mike Theiler//ISP

Just because you are separated from someone, doesn’t mean you stop loving them which is the case with Avril Lavigne in her song “Goodbye” which she allegedly wrote with her ex-husband, Sum 41 singer Deryck Whibley–after they had split:

Goodbye/Goodbye/Goodbye, my love/I can’t hide/Can’t hide/Can’t hide what has come/I have to go, I have to go, I have to go/And leave you alone/But always know, always know, always know/That I love you so

If anyone can bore deep into your soul with her voice, that is country singer Patsy Cline. In her song “Three Cigarettes In An Ashtray,” Cline uses the visual metaphor of the burning cigarette to describe what it’s like for her love to be taken away by another woman:

Two cigarettes in an ashtray/My love and I in a small cafe/Then a stranger came along/And everything went wrong/Now there’s three cigarettes in the ashtray/I watched her take him from me/And his love is no longer my own/Now they are gone, and I sit alone/And watch one cigarette burn away.

4. “Mean”-[lastfm link_type=”artist_info”]P!nk[/lastfm]

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A ray of hope for Maria Shriver if she is ever interested in reconciliation, singer P!nk has written many songs about her separation from her husband Carey Hart–a couple of years later they got back together and are expecting their first child. Despite all the mean things they said to each other:

How do we get so mean? How do we just move on?/How do you feel in the morning/When it comes and everythings undone?/Is it ’cause we wanna be free? Well that’s not me./Normally I’m so strong/I just can’t wake up on the floor/Like a thousand times before/Knowing that forever won’t be

In Bruce Springsteen’s song “Brilliant Disguise,” the Boss has worries about what his love his doing behind his back, but no actual proof. Even though she stood by him, Shriver must have felt that way after all those sexual allegations about Schwarzenegger ensued.

I heard somebody call your name from underneath our willow/I saw something tucked in shame underneath your pillow/Well Ive tried so hard baby but I just can’t see/What a woman like you is doing with me/So tell me what I see when I look in your eyes/Is that you baby or just a brilliant disguise

“Every Other Weekend” with Reba McEntire and Kenny Chesney is maybe not the best song ever written musically, but it does a great job of describing joint custody–which we don’t know any other song that does:

Every Other Sunday/I empty out my backseat/While my children hug their mother in the parking lot/We don’t touch/We don’t talk much/Maybe goodbye to each other/Then she drives away with every piece of heart I’ve got/I reconvince myself we did the right thing/Every Other Weekend